Golf club



G. W. YEARLEY GOLF CLUB I Aug. 9, 1949.

2 Sheecs-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 11, 1946 Patented Aug. 9, 1949 t i UNITED JSTIAT GOLF CLUB George W. Yearley, Geneva, Ohio, assignor to The American Fork and Hoe Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October 11, 1946, Serial No. 702,690

2 Claims.

My invention relates to golf clubs and relates more particularly to golf clubs of the type employing a metallic tubular shaft, whose diameter is,

least in a relatively short section of its length, disposed medially its ends and preferably medially of that half of the club length which, at its lower end is adapted to be'aiflxed to and support golf club head, and to improved means for relatively interconnecting the head and shaft.

" Golf club shafts having a medial reduced, longitudinally extending, relatively flexible section are known, reference therefore being had to U. S. Letters Patent 2,250,428, to Norman P. Vickery, dated July 22, 1941. Formerly, the natureof the response of a golf club shaft, and the shock imposed uponits lower end, caused by the improper strikingofa golf ball by an off-center face portion of the golf club head when travelling at a high velocity, had become the subject of widely variant explanations. t

As a result of the taking of, a rapid succession of a large number of almost instantaneous photographs, it is now known that said response starts with a substantially sharp bend of the shaft just above the hosel of the golf club head and thereafter, due to the relative inertia of the heavy golf club head, more upwardly disposed portions of the shaft become deflected, until finally, by what may be termed a crack the whip operation, the handle end of the shaft is violently thrown forward to cause the fingers of the players hands to sting smartly. Q

The lower end portion of the shaft being com,- monly of least diameter, is frequently bent beyond the elastic limit, by the effect of off-center shots, and takes a set, or'is broken.

, Again, the diametrically reduced lower end por-,

tions of most prior steel tubular shafts being tightly fitted into a tubular recess ofthe head shank, are with difflculty efficiently, rigidly secured to said shank.

Although there have been prior-proposals to" in part to the strengthening of the lower end portion of the shaft, and the relative weakening of a portion of the shaft disposed approximately one-fourth-to one-third of the distance towards the upper end, and the making ofthe-strength- 2 I sharp bending of the lowermost and now strengthened end of the shaft is reduced to substantially negligible proportions, particularlysince by the provision of the weakened-portion,

' such shaft portion in substance invites bending in such a region. a V I However, the bending in the intentionally provided weakened portion being effected by relative movement of the club head,with respect to such portion, on a much longer radius, the bending is not nearly so sharp as inthe case of the conventional golf club shaft. 7

The shaft of the present invention also involves the provision of a shaft and head connection which possesses advantages over prior art construction. 1 a

An object of myinvention is to provide:

A golf club comprising a tubular shaft having a lower end portionof such construction that an ened portion of such-substantial length that the iron type golf club head may be secured thereto, in such a manner as to avoid localization of bending stresses in that region ofthe shaft length which is disposed in the region which extends upwardly from the head and is initiated immediately above the upper end portion of the golf club head shank.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved means for joining a metallic tubular golf club shaft, to the upper end portion of an iron golf club head. 7 Other obJects'o'f my invention and the invention itself will be apparent' to those skilled in the golf club playing and manufacturing arts, to which my invention pertains, by reference to the following description of certain preferred embodiments'o'f my inventionyand to the drawings illustrating the said embodiments wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a golf club which is an embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal medial sectional view of the lower end portion of the shaft of the said embodiment; a a V Fig; 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1 through section In and sleeve M;

Fig. 4 is a view, mostly in side elevation, but partially in medial sectional view of a fragment of a golf club shaft wherein a downwardly expanding lowermost portion of the shaft is secured to the lower end of an upwardly extending reduced section thereof, by a drive fit telescopingconnection. I Fig. 5 is a view similar to that of Fig. 4 showing a similar drive-fit connection between the lower end portion of a downwardlyprogressively reduced upper shaft portion and the most re- 4 per end to its lower end indicated at 9 by providing a plurality of successively reduced sections !2a in such number as to provide the usual degree of reduction, with the uppermost section 12a being preferably longer than the more downwardly disposed sections [2a.

Although such shafts may be made in widely varying dimensions, I prefer that the degree of reduction throughout the hand grip supporting portion l2, which may be long, should be in the ratio of .57 for the uppermost section to erably said shank is provided with a transverse medially disposed retaining pin bore 8-.

The shank 2| is adapted to be rigidly secured to the lower end of a tubular shaft by press fit ting the shank within the walls of said lower shaft portion; by the adoption of this method of interconnecting the shank to the shaft, the shank may be made much shdrter than the usual al ternative head hosel into which thelower end of the shaft is projected, andbeirig shorter and of lesser diameter than the said hosel, the center of mass and weight of the shank may be reduced to lower the centerof gravity of the complete head which may be thus lowered seas to be disposed much closer to the center of the striking face of the head. 7

Referring now to the first embodiment of my invention comprising Figs l, 4, and 5, the shaft thereof comprises a metallic -thin-walled tube, onto the lower end 10 of which a sleeve M is drive fitted. V V

The shaft tube comprises a lower-most club head supporting; portion, which proceeds downwardly of the shaft towards its head supporting end from apoint 2-, the shaft being-of least diameter from the point -2 over a substantially cylindrical short section 4, whose, lower limit is indicated at 5 where the tube is substantially abruptly enlarged, and then proceeds downwardly b other successive cylindrical sections '6. Y, i

The sections '6 are each of success-ivelylarger diameter than the immediately preceding section, until the terminal cylindrical section if! of largest diameter, is provided to afford a socket for the reception 'of the club head shank ft, of the-head 20.

The shank 2'1 being outwardly of cylindrical form is of such outside diameteras to make a drive-fit within the walls ofthe terminal-section H] of the tube. Although suchv a drive fit may be. relied upon to maintain thehead shank and shaft end relatively rigidly securedtogether, I

prefer to add to the security of; the connect-ion.

by projecting a retaining pin .7 through aligned transverse bores 8 of; said tube section 1i} and said-shank 21, both ends: of said pin being preferably headed over, exterior-1y of the shaft bore.

The upper portion of the shaft may be progressively decreased in diameter from the; lower end 9 of its hand grip supporting portion, to the shoulder 19 which adjoins the lower shaft portion of least diameterat the point 2 in any suitable manner, and inthe embodiment shown the reduction is effected by providing the shaft tube with a suitable number of successive cylindrical sections H, seven of which are employed in the present emodiment, to-gradually-achieve the desiredreductionin diameter, v

The hand grip supporting portion 12 of the shaft may be of any-suitable form such as cylindrical, downwardly or upwardly tapered, but in the embodiment shown, I prefer to'achieve areduction of its diameter proceeding from its up- 45'. for the lowermost hand grip supporting sec- 'tio'nl2a.

- I prefer to make the section between the points .9 and 2 in varying" ratios of diametrical reductively short length are arranged in a grou-p, the

rate of diarnetrical change per u'nit of shaft length is increased with respect to another group having longer sections. I

Therefore, although the diameter ofthe Lip-- permost section Ij is lii fflthe intermediatesection [5 will be..432" the lowermost section of the group IE will be.381" a Similarly, the lower portion-of the; shaft proceeding downwardly from the point? comprises the section 4, of .366 in diameter, beingili fi/f" long followed by the uppermost section of the group 6 which is 3% long as compared to the" more downwardly disposed three sections of the seine group 6 are. each %,fiinrleng th and arranged from .432" to .466" in diameter.

The lowermost section-l0 is. 21/ long and has a diameter of 3183".v

Having hereinabove describedthe integral tubecomprising upper and lower portions which are merged by the-shoulder l9 at the point-21h the length of the shaft, l p'lac'e "a tubular reinforcing sleeve l4 over the final lowermost cylindrical section in of the shaft, andf the diameter of its bore being such asto inakethe fit of the inner surfaces of the sleeve, with the outer. surfaces of thetube section 'I'O, a driving or press fit.

The presence of the sleeve l3 increases the diameter of the lower endiporticnbi the shaft, by an amount equal to thecoi nbined thickness; of opposite wall portions and by making the wall thickness of thetlowerr-nost sectionot the shaft .015", and by providing a sleeye :M whose wall has a thickness-of );1;2, the outside diameter of said sleeve will be .501" and the; inside diameter of the lowermost portion ofthe tube section Ill, which may be 2%" long, will -be-.453' thus the reinforced lower endof sectionsllicithe shaft tube I ihtc which the head shanki l is. press fitted to a longitudinal extent of 4%", will have an aggregate wall thickness M102 7, which dimension corresponds to the radial dimension of the shoulder, or shelf 20a, (Figs 6 whereby smoothness of longitudinal contour 'as between the'outer surfaceof the sleeve M, and-the lower adjacent portion of the shank is achieved.

' The clubheadsha-nk will project upwardly-from, an annular shelf 20d, of thef club head, whichshelf is preferablycf the same diameter as the outside-diameter. of the sleeve M atthe lower end of the shaft. previously 'stated, media'lly of its ends, the shank 2| has a transverse bore 8 extending therethrough for the reception of the pin 1 which asses through similar bores 8 and 8a of the shaft tube section In and sleeve l4 respectively.

Although definite dimensions are above given for the various portions of a shaft embodying my invention," it will be understood such are merely exemplary, and may be widely departed from in other'embodii'nents. The head shank being thus secured to the lower end of the shaft tube'and the connection being reinforced by the presence of the enclosing sleeve I4, when an off-center portion of the face 20b of the head is' improperly caused to strike a golf ball during themaking of a golf stroke, the mass and inertia of the ball will tend to deflect said head rearwardly of a downward projection of the axis of the hand grip portion of the shaft, but due to the progressive downward enlargement of the club head supporting portion of the shaft 2, the effect of the blow will merely cause the larger, more downwardly disposed sections l and 6 of the shaft to be deflected, without bending them to any objectionable degree, but the bending effort being transmitted thereby, mainly to the shaft section 4, and to portions of the shaft disposed upwardly of the section 4.

Although the shaft, of Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, is described as being formed from a single length of formed tubing, such shafts may be conveniently adapted to be formed by such machines as disclosed in the patent to R. H. Cowdery 1,963,047, dated June 12, 1934, when the downwardly reduced upper shaft portion, and downwardly expanded lower portion are separately formed and then telescoped tightly together, either at or at 2, to produce the complete shafts as respectively shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Fig. 4 shows the resulting juncture of an upper and lower shaft portion, as being located at the upper end of the most reduced shaft section 4, whereas Fig. 5 shows such a junction at the lower end of said most reduced shaft section.

The interfitted shaft portions in either case with one inch or more overlapping may be made to effect a tight junction, which, if desired, may be supplemented by a transverse pinof the nature of that shown at 21 Fig. 4, though I find such a pin not necessary in an otherwise well made telescoping joint, and instead of using such a pin, my preference is to make interconnected shaft portions functionally integral by applying a film of so called silver solder in the joint between the engaged surfaces of the relatively telescoped shaft portions.

I also prefer to more securely integrally join the sleeve [4 on to the enlarged lower end of the shafts involving the present invention by the application of such a film of silver solder between the relatively telescoped outer shaft and inner sleeve surfaces.

An additional advantage of employing the sleeve I4 is that such a sleeve may be made in any desired thickness, and of any desired material and may advantageously be given a diiferent heat treatment than the rest of the shaft onto whose lower end said sleeve is telescoped; in any event the thickness of the sleeve may be made sufficiently thin as to substantially decrease the weight, per unit of length, of the relatively telescoped head shank, tube section Ill, and sleeve l4, as compared to that of the relatively telescoped shaft end portion and tubular hosel, as now usually employed.

In the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 6, the sleeve and club head shank"are co-extensive in'length, andshorter than the tube section l0. 6 However, in-the shaft illustrated in Figs: 2 and 7,1 haveshown the sleeve 1'41: which is substantially longer than the head shank 2m, which is telescoped into the lower end portion of the section ,lil, and the upper end ofsaid sleeve is disposed longitudinally between the end of the head shank and the upper end of the lowermost tube thusstrengthening the portion of the lowermost tube section which is disposed immediately above the upper end of the head shank- 1 e 1 By thus providing a sleeve l4x'which extends upwardly beyond the head of the shank and terminatessubstantially below the upper end of the lowermost shaft'tube section l0, the'strength of theshaft is more gradually reduced proceeding from the upper end of said shank in the upward direction, and thus affords further insurance against breakage, or permanently bending of the shaft'in the region just above the head shank terminus. t t t In the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 6, the illustrated club shank and the sleeve l4 may each be 1%" long, and in Figs. 2 and '7 the said shank, is shorter, and embodiments of my invention wherein the shank is only A", in length, are contemplated since such a short length shank is conducive to the lowering of the center of gravity of the head end of the golf club, thereby minimizing shaft bending vibrational efforts even under conditions of a half-topped shot.

Having described my invention in different embodiments and with varying elements of structure, I am aware that within the spirit of my invention other variations may be had but without departing from the principles of my invention.

I claim:

1. A golf club comprising a tubular metallic shaft and a metallic head, said head comprising an uppermost shank stem whose lateral surfaces are cylindrical throughout, a lowermost striking blade, and an intermediate connector portion integrally joining said blade and said stem, the upper end of said connector portion being circular and of greater diameter than the stem so as to afford an upwardly facing shoulder surrounding the lower end of the stem at the upper end of the connector portion, the lower end of said shaft terminating in a cylindrical portion of greater length than said shank and being pressfitted over said shank, a cylindrical metallic sleeve press-fitted over the exterior surface of the lower end portion of said shaft whereby said shaft is rigidly relatively immovably secured to, and between, said stem and said sleeve, to make tight fitting metal-to-metal engagement with the relatively opposing wall surfaces of both said stem and sleeve, the wall thicknesses of the lower ends of said shaft and of said sleeve being such as to be disposed in abutting relation to said shoulder and to present a substantially smooth longitudinally extending surface for the junction between said sleeve and said connector portion.

2. A golf club comprising a tubular metallic shaft having a cylindrical lowermost section, an integral metallic striking blade having an upstanding lug extending upwardly from its heel end, said lug comprising an upper end tang portion whose outer surface is of cylindrical form and a connector portion interposed between and joining said tang portion and said blade, said connector portion having its upper end portion of circular outline and of greater diameter than mdjomedi rower end; of V the; saiid cylindrical tang portion wheneby to'afiond an upwandly fac laterally narrow shoulder ledge, a; steels or like cylindrical sheeve of at least as guest length as said tang portion, the lower portion of said; lowermost shaft section being. prese-fittingly forced over said tang p'ortiom oi Sam-blade lug and. pness-fittingly'confinedk within sleeve: to make tight fitting metal to-m'etal. engagement with; the relatively: opposing? wall. surfaces of. both; said tang and sleeve, the lower: endl edges .of: said. sleeve and of. said shaft section ahuttingly engaging said shoulder" ledge, and the aggregate wall thickness ofithe lower ends of said; sleeve and of said shaft being substantially equal tothe' REFERENCES (II-DED- The renewing references are of reoord 1n tfie" 2o file of this patent? NLDfib'ef Number 8 STATES PATENTS Name Date Scott Feb. 15,1916 Benton Mar. 25, 1924 Watson Feb. 6, 1934 Cowdery; Dec; 4', 1934 Bu'hrkej et a1; Apr. 16, 1935 Lammon July 6, 1937 Vick'ery July 22, 1941 Vickery July 22, 19 41 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Aug. 5, 1926 Great Britain Oct. 29, 1931 Great Britain Feb.. 14', 1940 

